Month: December 2017

Six months ago I put on a white dress. Then some pretty music played and I took my Daddy’s arm and walked down an aisle. Then I made the second most important commitment of my life to the most important person in my life.

“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Sam told me today. In some ways when I think back to that day I feel like I have blinked and six months have passed!

Six months is not a very long time, but it is still enough time to grow incredibly close to a person, grow as a person myself, and learn countless lessons. I have been asked how it was going from a long distance relationship to the close relationship of marriage. So far it has been absolutely wonderful and full of blessings. We have already gone through so much during our six months together so far and I am excited to see, Lord willing, what the future holds.

Sam and I knew each other three days shy of one year when he got down on one knee and took the first step in our commitment to each other, and nine days later he was on a plane to Romania. We were apart for nine months during our engagement expect for two weeks right in the middle. The majority of our relationship was long distance, and although we were able to communicate very well through letters, text messages, emails, phone calls, and FaceTime sessions, we could not wait to actually be together every single day. I can remember talking about it through computer screens, daydreaming together about seeing each other when we wake up every day, running together, or just getting to talk in person whenever we had something to discuss.

Although I never would have chosen for it to be so, I think we grew a lot from our lengthy long-distance relationship. We learned how to communicate when apart and work through difficulties. We also grew to appreciate being together. Even now we still pause sometimes to say, “I can’t believe we are together! This is so much fun!” I hope we never lose the excitement of being together, no matter what we are doing. I hope we can always hold on to just a little bit of this feeling.

Although in some small ways the last six months have been harder than I anticipated, in a huge way it has been so much better than I ever could have imagined. I imagined that marriage would be blissful, but I did not understand what a blessing it is as well. God’s plan for everything is always the best, and I realize a little more every day how perfect His plan for marriage is.

Date night in downtown Craiova

So far during our marriage we have been through a lot. For seven weeks after we got married we lived with my parents and traveled all over the States for Sam to preach and give reports to various congregations. Then we moved to Romania and lived with Sam’s parents for a little while before getting our own apartment in Severin. Three months later we moved two hours away to Craiova to start a church here. We have been so many places, met so many people, and had so many amazing experiences together. We have also gone through some hard and stressful days and many, many tears (at least on my part!), but the hard times have just helped us draw closer.

When I look back on the past six months, at all the joy, smiles, and laughter, along with the stress and sadness I am amazed at how far we have come. We know each other so much better and we are remarkably closer than we were six short months ago, and that thought excites me. If I have witnessed so many blessings already, and I am learning more every day, I cannot imagine what blessings years of marriage must hold. I pray we will continue to draw closer to God and closer to each other, and that our marriage will be a tool in accomplishing God’s will for our lives!

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